#I should start a tag for my star trek thoughts

[burinazar]

It's funny stepping back into fandom spaces where most people are within my general age range or older after making so many younger friends in MiAbyss fandom* so when i go back to my old stomping grounds of LOGH or T&B or Star Trek or Vorkosiverse or the BJD hobby or just the whole entire SFF/genre fiction reader+writer sphere and it's like oh ok yeah. i'm not really thaaaaaaattttt humongously old i guess. because to be honest with you sometimes in other contexts i feel like the club penguin 18+ elderly penguin

*not to erase those of you in there who are older! it's just that something with MiA that was a brand new experience for me over the last year is that I sure did accumulate some treasured fandom friends a decade-ish younger than me and i feel somewhat protective of them slash occasionally ashamed of not being a more impressive role model or something but okay look you guys don't want a mentor you want a draw-er of shitposts and a writer-er of decentish fanfics and That I Can Do

[pix-writes]

Thank you so much for answering my question! You always give very thorough and thoughtful answers 🥹🥹 If you don't mind me asking, can I ask the same question about friendships (possible lovers later, just like with Stanley) but with Ford? Thank you so much again, I really love reading your analysis 🥹🙌🏻✨️!!

Aw thank you! ☺️

(answer under cut)

I think I've gone over a little bit about how Ford would be in the beginning of a friendship/relationship in this post. Mainly talking about how his flaws/past wound would hinder him forming relationships, generally.

Though I did mention that I think Ford would be easy to bond with, in terms of connecting over something intellectual or nerdy. If you're someone who is game to tag along on research or adventures and can lend a hand figuratively/physically, then your friendship will start to grow, as quality time is the best way to get to know him (he may be a hero/adventurer, but he's truly an introvert with introvert hobbies). Shared interests are something that seems very important to Ford, having been starved of a lot of affection and deeper connections in the past, especially since he found making friends in school/college; so as long as you share a few passions, he'll open up to you fairly quickly.

However, it will take him more time to form a romantic connection and for him to act on it, it will be very slow burn because firstly, he simply doesn't move fast in a relationship, or at least not as fast as modern dating seems to be, and second of all because he has a little insecurity over whether you're interested in him or not/should be interested in him. It takes Ford a little bit to be convinced you won't get your head turned by someone more 'suitable' in his mind. This is also in part to the trauma from Bill's manipulation and torture, whilst you may have only connected after bill was erased, it still brings up trust issues in him and he needs to feel he could trust a partner - as well as work through anxiety about putting you in potential danger (will be quite protective over you as a partner as a result of this).

Kindness will go a long way in securing his opinion of you as someone trustworthy, not only to him but Ford seeing you be kind to his family, your other friends, even to strangers or just plain altruistic in actions not just in words, means that he can trust that he has evidence to back up what he thinks of you and not fall into a similar trap like he did with bill.

Also will admire you for any show of bravery or doing what is right (especially if it's in a situation where it's against the odds, whether it's something dire or a situation where it would be easy to give into social pressures). He appreciates when people say what they mean and are direct with him, as he'll be the same with them (I'm neurodivergent and I hc Ford is too, so this may be specific to being ND, as it's confusing when neurotypical people talk in circles to me!)

Friendship with Ford would include:

watching nerdy TV/films together, whilst I think Ford has only passingly known of/shown interest in world events even before the portal incident, he still managed to have some semblance of interests/life outside of his research, it may arguably not have been a lot, but considering his interest in dnd (including the intergalactic versions) and how he wanted to drop everything to play it with dipper in that one episode, he is definitely interested in catching up on all the nerdy TV/films he's missed out on, cue watching LOTR, star wars, star trek etc. However his gaps in world events comes up as well at the most random of times, he didn't really ask much on what he's missed out in world news (it's not relevant to his work or so he thinks), which can be both hilarious and sad, as as his friend you have to catch him up or remind him (e.g. 'no sixer, the soviet union doesn't exist any more, remember?' 'oh yeah, there was a war in Afghanistan... What do you mean how did it start?!')

playing board games/video games, like I said above Ford is a long time player of ttrpgs and so you will be persuaded into playing some version of a DND campaign if you're not already into it. Ford's excellent at teaching the mechanics and actually pretty good at roleplay and DMing, he can't do many voices but his storytelling is masterful (he is an author after all, even if he wasn't writing fiction and has lots of past practice from college). Dives straight into 5e, learns it quickly and creates his own homebrew version in no time at all! If you introduce him to the concept of dnd shows, he becomes a critter for sure! Essek and Percy are his favourite characters in Critical Role. Hums the theme song sometimes when he's working in the lab. Dipper gets him into Minecraft and you together construct a large home base and underground lab in the game. A lot of these games can take a long time, definitely have stayed up till 3 or 4 am on a campaign more than once.

research in the lab together or out in the field and debating with Ford about all sorts of topics, including your current research projects and both of your hypotheses. You might not have the same skill set as him but he values a different perspective from his own, you help balance out his hyperfocus. Is protective of you if something might be dangerous, will want him to be the one that gets hit/hurt if anyone has to, though both of you have had to patch up the other.

Getting into debates: Ford loves a mental challenge, he doesn;t realise its good for him (consciously/not until post-weirdmageddon) but having someone who isn't afraid to challenge him or speak their mind with him helps to keep him grounded and for him to really pause and think about his theories/morals. It doesn't have to be too deep though, perhaps you simply disagree on something, this will turn into a full debate, but despite some thinking you're arguing, its more of a passionate conversation, you're both having fun. Plus its even more fun when Ford ends up agreeing with you (its rare but it boosts your ego when it does happen)

related to the adventures a little: expect Ford to praise you/your efforts, (reminds me a bit like the 9th doctor or Sherlock) will just be doing something or figuring out a code or puzzle he'll exclaim "fascinating!" Or brilliant/fantastic/excellent/good, sometimes he's not aware he's saying these hushed phrases! Or he'll follow it up with questions, eyes lit up from being energised in his work, like "fascinating! How did you reach that conclusion?" 🤓

catching him up on technology, he finds it difficult compared to the high tech stuff from other universes but I like to hc he would get over it eventually, he's not the most adept in terms of keeping up with internet culture but is when it comes to tinkering with technology and experimenting/improving it. Still likes to call people instead of text and will have regular phone calls with you if you or him are away from each other.l, eases his worries about you (he's protective and still has nightmares from time to time so he likes to hear your voice so he knows you're ok).

Spending quieter moments together, even if its just stargazing on the stan o war whilst stan fishes, if you're close friends, I can imagine Ford would like hugs, holding hands and on the odd occaision napping cuddled up together (platonically) - the naps happened by accident at first, however its nice and your adventures are exhausting sometimes, so you now get the weighted blanket for you to both lie under for an hour or two (Mabel definitely has a picture of you asleep on her phone because its adorable).

Ford hasn't driven for 30 yrs (well not a regular old car anyway) so you've definitely had to drive him places/collect him before because his attempts at driving are almost as reckless as Stan is behind the wheel 😬 on a boat though? He's the most trustworthy captain 🫡 meticulous on the safety checks, will boss you and stan about a little on what to do, but you know it's for good reason... most of the time

[veryace-ficrecs]

Tim Drake & Jason Todd Angst Fic Recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

in the planter outside my front door by CosmoKid - Rated G

When Tim’s six years old, his third-grade class takes a field trip to the old firehouse in The Narrows.

By the age of seven years old, he’s learned that there’s a difference between pain and Pain, and that while adults are generally happy to deal with pain, they do not enjoy you talking about Pain.

These two things may be related.

This Dark Ceiling Without a Star by Miss_Lazy_Tuesday - Rated M

“For fuck’s sake, your chatter is going to drive me crazy faster than this stupid spell.” “Then you talk!” “There’s no point!” Jason snaps. “I can feel it, okay. It’s—there’s no emotion behind it, it’s not using my thoughts. It’s just a bunch of weird Greek echoing in my brain and a compulsion to act. And it’s getting stronger. Talking isn’t going to slow it down.” “Then what will slow it down?” After five long seconds of silence, Tim gives into the urge and viciously jabs his fist into Jason’s leg for the second time. “Goddammit, why?” Jason snaps, green briefly sparking in his eyes before disappearing just as quickly. “You are not seriously going to just sit there and wait to die.” “The hell do you care anyway?” “Because I don’t want you to die! Obviously!” “You fucking should.” 

unaware i'm tearing you asunder by hendecagrisms - Rated T

The pieces were starting to click into place, aligning to create a deeply disturbing picture. “Are you seriously saying you’ll become a missing person and fake your death for this stupid homecoming plan?” Jason interrupted, his voice full of as much judgmental incredulity as possible. The kid’s eyes skated back over to him, his face twitching into a brief frown. “What? No.” A pause. “I mean, we could do that instead, if you wanted. But to fool Batman I’d need facial reconstruction surgery and new papers and it would all have to be untraceable—,” he broke off with a scoff, shaking his head slightly. “No, it’s just smarter and more cost-efficient to do it for real.” - Tim learns about Jason Todd's return, does some research on the Lazarus Pit, and realizes that there might be a way to solve multiple problems all at once: removing himself from the picture. For some strange reason, the Red Hood doesn't seem keen on cooperating.

Grin and Bear It (I got blood on your carpet) by Alia_JuneBug - Not Rated

When Jack Drake’s business trip gets canceled, he is forced to stay at home while the legal kinks get worked out. He’s not used to having a teenager underfoot, so it’s only rational that he’s a little snappish around Tim. At least, that’s what Tim tells himself each time his dad’s idea of discipline gets harsher. Bruce had told him to take a break from Robin in order to spend some time at home with his dad, and Tim can’t say no to that. He knows Bruce is probably glad to be rid of him for a short while. And he can handle discipline. This is a Tim Drake problem, not a Robin problem anyway. There’s no need for Bruce to know anything. Things get a little muddled when an injured Jason Todd crawls through his bedroom window.

Thrown into the Storm by ThePokeOne - Rated T

"It figured, Tim thought as he trekked through Gotham's streets in one of the worst storms he'd ever seen. He'd been careless. So stupidly careless."

Or:

Tim gets kicked out, and Jason has a change of plans.

am i the only one pretending (i did it to myself) by rutaceae - Rated T

Tim doesn’t expect his latest civilian kidnapping to be any different from the rest, but when he remembers things best left buried in the past, things take a turn for the worse. Luckily, his family is here to help.

sallow skin (and they can’t look away) by Ghxst_Bird - Rated T

Bruce is off planet when Robin’s distress beacon is lit. He tries not to worry, but then Nightwing contacts him: Robin’s tracker leads straight into Gotham Bay.

1-800-ROBIN by spqr - Rated T

“Gotham Youth Mental Health Hotline, this is Jason speaking. Can I ask who I’m talking to?” There’s a long silence on the other end of the line, and then a small voice says, “I, um. Sorry, I don’t know why I called. This was a mistake. I’ll just hang up now.” “Hey, wait.” Jason drops his feet to the floor, sitting forward in his shitty cubicle. Suddenly his heart is racing and he’s not sure why, but he can’t let this kid hang up. “You don’t have to tell me your name. That’s okay. Just – why don’t you tell me why you’re calling?”

buy the ticket, take the ride by Anonymous - Rated M

Tim had always figured that if he ever woke up in Vegas sans-memory, it would be when he was older than fourteen. But there were some things he couldn’t control, and apparently whatever had happened last night that he didn’t remember was one of them.

hungry for strays by Ghxst_Bird - Rated T

Tim knows something is wrong with Batman and Nightwing, and somehow it all has to do with the new crime lord on the rise in crime alley. So of course he’s not going to stay at the manor while they’re out risking their lives. Tim leaves a note and sets out for intel on the Red Hood. Aka. Everyone is straight up not having a good time

Safe and Warm by sardonic_sprite - Rated G

Batman.

Batman lived right next door. Batman surely had a generator, or at least a fireplace and wood, or some way to get warm.

Batman took care of kids, and Mr. Wayne was really nice. He would at least let Tim warm himself back up. Maybe he could even stay just until the power came back on.

It was worth a shot.

Nervous Breakdown by AhsokaJackson - Rated T

Jay closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose to push back the encroaching headache. And possibly the admittedly ironic desire to strangle this kid for his lack of self-care instincts. "Tim. Timmy. Answer me this. Where exactly is the old man? Actually, better question: Why in the ever-living hell is the answer to that anything other than 'right here'?" Tim gave a huff that sounded more tired than defiant. "Because, like I said, it's a mild case and I don't need to be under observation. I already told Bruce the same thing I told you: I'm fine." "And he believed that."

Don't You Know? by sardonic_sprite - Rated T

“How the hell did you think taking everything the real Robin had was going to make him proud of you?” Jason snapped. “I didn’t want to take anything,” Replacement cried. “I wanted to save it. It… Batman… they were… everything was just… It was awful, and, and Gotham needed… but Robin…” The kid looked up at Jason, desperation in his eyes, like he was trying to find justification from his accuser. “I-I know he wouldn’t have wanted Batman to die.”

Living Dead Boy by Terranpheum - Rated T

Tim was having a normal night photographing Batman and mourning the dead when Jason Todd suddenly breaks out of his own grave. He's unresponsive and catatonic, and Tim knows there's no way he can leave the boy on his own. So, he brings him back to Drake Manor to try and help him recover. It goes… well?

Instead of All the Colors That I Saw by SilverSkiesAtMidnight - Rated T

Dick comes around to stand fully in front of him, keeping a steadying hand on Tim’s arm. “Just because you know you’re safe intellectually doesn’t mean you always feel safe,” he says softly. “It’s okay if you don’t feel safe.” “But it’s not okay!” Tim bursts out. “Because if I don’t feel safe, then how is Jason supposed to feel safe? He shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable just because my brain is screwed up!” There’s a faint sound by the door, barely more than an intake of breath, and his eyes snap to the no-longer empty doorway.

The Worst Kind of Crush by TimDrakeIsMyPatronus - Rated T

Civilians came first.  It was one of the foundational truths of being a superhero. Their job was to save civilians regardless of the personal cost. Each of them knew and understood the risks associated with the cape when they put it on.  Still, rules got fuzzy when one woke up underneath a building.  Or the one where a building explodes and Tim is trapped under the rubble

Last Request by destiny919 - Rated T

"Any last words, Replacement?" Red Hood casually crouches down in front of him. "Or how about a last request? I'm feeling generous. I'll do you one last favor before I clip those little wings. Whatever you want. Sky's the limit." There's only one thing he's ever really wanted from Jason Todd.

Echoes of You by SilverSkiesAtMidnight - Rated T

Graveyard mud, heavy and dark, clinging to a stained and torn suit. One shoe missing, a leg bent awkwardly and blood staining a bare foot.

Milk white skin beneath the mud, black hair hanging in muddy clumps around his ears. Blue eyes staring back at him, animal-bright and dilated in the brief moment before he flinches back from the light with a cry of pain that stabs through Jason to the soul.

His shaking hand closes around the flashlight before he can even think about it, cutting off the piercing beam and letting it spill out in shards between his fingers. For a petrifying moment as his eyes readjust, he’s sure that when he looks again, there will be nothing there.

“Tim?” he whispers.

The lean and ragged figure, tiny, god he’s so small, lowers his hands away from his face, away from his eyes wide and glittering almost silver in the moonlight.

Hands, mud-covered and torn. The red of his shredded fingernails is sickeningly dark in the broken light.

He’s vomiting before he even feels the bile making its way up his throat.

Petals for Armor by SilverSkiesAtMidnight - Rated T

There’s a small half-moon of blood under the white of Tim’s nail where he bent it. He studies the red of it, feeling foggy and dreamlike. “Can I ask you a question?” His brother’s eyes flick to him and away again, surprised and wary. “What?” His nail doesn’t hurt much, just the dullest of aches when he presses down against it. “When you were homeless, you slept with people for money, didn’t you?” Jason jerks like he’s been slapped. His knuckles are so pale where they grip the steering wheel they suddenly look more bone than flesh. “Did I -” “Was it worth it?” Tim asks, drifting like a cloud over whatever furious reaction Jason was about to give him. “The money, I mean.” His sternum slams into the seatbelt with bruising force. Unbraced for it, his head whips forward and back against his seat as they swerve off the road again and skid to a halt with a screech of rubber.

farthest you’ve ever flown by rutaceae - Rated T

When Jack Drake kicks Tim out in a rage, Tim, not wanting to be a bother, tries to make it work without getting the Bats involved. But he can only go so long without being found out, and it’s not Batman that ends up discovering his secret; it’s the Red Hood.

Familial Ties by AnonymousWhump - Rated T

What he wasn't expecting was to walk into the kitchen to find Tim,  yes Tim because he wasn't in the Robin outfit he was dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, was that blood on his feet?  Staring at him in shock, eyes flicking from him to the phone in his hand, before mumbling a quiet,

“Jason?”  

Or, Jason breaks into the Titan's Tower to hurt Robin but his plan is quickly derailed when he sees signs of abuse.

Drop In by iselsis - Rated T

Tim's injured, alone in Crime Alley, and the worst possible person finds him. And yet it doesn't turn out as badly as Tim expected.

Watch Your Step Dear by Redaliveviolation - Rated T

Tim was having a great time watching the Dynamic Duo race across Gotham. He was getting so many good photos and he never wanted these nights to end. Too bad the heroes aren’t around when he takes a trip off of the side of a building.

[marlinspirkhall]

The star trek food cubes are haunting me again. I want to put them in my mouth.

So here are the theories on how to make them.

[ID] Screencap from The Conscience Of The King shows Lt. Riley uncovering a plate of food cubes [end ID]

Tofu, diced.

Marinate in liquid(s) of choice (e.g, lemon juice). Cover with cornstarch. Add red, green or yellow food colouring to blocks as required. Roast and serve.

Suggestion: marinate the cubes in different flavours to correspond to their colours.

Prototype recipe

Melon, diced.

This one is low effort: Red cubes= watermelon, other cubes= melon. Allegedly, the original on-set props *were* dyed melon (but I don't have a solid source), so this may be the best fit.

Royal icing/icing sugar.

This one is just candy: make 3 batches of royal icing, one red, one yellow, one green, dice when half-set and leave to fully set.

Cake, fondant.

Possible, if we assume Lt. Riley was drinking milk in that scene from The Conscience Of The King (Pictured above). This one is also easy to make, assuming you don't object to fondant.

Jelly, cubed.

(Jell-O). Dishonourable mention; this one is too see-through for my liking.

[ID] Screencap from Where No Man shows Kirk eating a green food cube, which looks blue here. [End ID]

Potatoes, Diced.

Roast Potatoes, Diced

This idea comes from CoolPete.com, and my first thought was "please don't put food colouring on the potatoes".

Cool Pete provided a photo of the finished results, and the natural colour of the potato offsets most of the food colouring to make them all look greener than intended. The red food colouring comes out the best. I suppose colour theory dictates that you should use blue food colouring on the potatoes in order to get green cubes, but don't quote me on that.

With this in mind, I'm going to tentatively suggest a horrible idea:

Roast Sweet Potatoes (Yams), Diced

In theory, the redness of the yams might allow the Yellow Food Dye to look more yellow, and make the red more vibrant. There's a greater chance that you will be able to use the green food colouring without it looking blue here, but use at your own caution, because the finished product may look oversaturated. Perfectly edible, but potentially unappetizing (the first bite is with the eye).

Closing Comments:

For uniformity of texture, tofu or melon seems to be the best way to go. If we are to believe that the "food cubes" in-universe are supposed to be fruit (according to that same trekbbs thread, they're placed in glasses in Journey To Babel), then watermelon and cantaloupe are begging for our attention, but we must ignore them, for melon alone does not a meal make!

“I wonder if they were actually supposed to be some kind of fruit in-universe, too? IIRC, in "Journey to Babel" the copper aliens put them in their drinks, which seems a strange thing to do if they were supposed to be the 23rd century equivalent of tofu cubes or something.”

-Avro Arrow

This isn't the end, merely the beginning. I will test out a couple of variations of these meals and report back on which one I think is best.

My current hypothesis is that the tofu will allow for the most variation, as you can marinate it in naturally-colourful liquids of various colours. If it's colourful enough you could forgo the food colouring altogether, or marinate it in something colourless (like salted water) and then add seasonings and food colouring if you wish.

I intend to start by using tofu with diced potatoes as a side, though if I test out too many cube-shaped meals at once, my household will get suspicious, so I need to space this out over the course of a few months. I'm going to use the tag #Food Cube Trek, so filter it if that's not something you'd like to see.

[umnitsa]

The Sailor's Knot - 2

Summary: Joel slowly makes things better, even if you don't notice.

A/N: Sorry, guys. I take too long to write, tag and everything, but I'm writing <3 I hope you enjoy this! Banner from @cafekitsune <3

Written with unholy eagerness and no proofreading! No beta, we die like english is my second language (and it is! xD).

Pairing: ADHD!Reader x Joel (Reader is also plus size, it just isn't an issue yet. Reader is about Joel's age.)

CW: Depression lifting by the way of serotonin delivered by a handsome man. Reader is also nerdy. First part is here!

The kids kept coming into your house. They would stay at the door and books would exchange hands as they tried to peek inside, just to get a look of the dog sleeping at the floor.

The dog slept a lot. Often over and around you.

Joel started building the fence as soon as the ground permitted, and you joined him, making holes, hammering poles and encouraging him to take breaks and sit inside, whenever he looked in pain.

Which it was all the time.

So you two spent the days inside, talking quietly about unimportant things.

The fence almost started feeling like an excuse. It felt even more of an excuse when he started joining you on walks for the dog’s necessities, while your talks got more philosophical. More profound.

“I can’t believe you’re actually listening to me.” You said, amusedly, after a particularly entrenched defense you feel you’re experiencing Star Trek, in some way, being in an utopic socialist commune. “Most people find this shit tiring.”

“You’re just a nerd.” Joel scoffed, smirking at you. “I knew it the moment you heard my name and made a Mystery Science Theater 3000 joke.”

“You recognized it! I knew it! And what does it says about say about you now, sir?” You bumped Joel’s arm with your shoulder, laughing. The dog jumped, tail waggling. You crouched to pet the dog, gently tousling his fur. “We need to get him a ball… Or something for a tug of war. I think he’s starting to feel better, and without the fence he can’t run.”

Joel nodded, kicking the ground.

“I like bad movies.” He says, almost shyly. “Cheesy ones. A few tapes reached some friends, and we had some fun.”

“That didn’t made you less cool then and doesn’t make you less cool now, sir.” You say softly, standing up. “And your secret is safe with me.”

Joel laughed.

“I’ll try and get him a rope. And we can make a ball with scraps of old fabric or leather.” He continued breathlessly after his laughter. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Hm?” You ask, absentmindedly walking towards your home.

“You make me stop working when I’m in pain.” He completed, quietly. “You let me rest.”

“I do?” You smirked, leading the dog inside, and holding the door for Joel, silently inviting him inside. “Hm. I hadn’t noticed, I thought it was just being a socialist.”

Joel shook his head, his expression fond, sweet. He stayed at the door, holding the handle.

“I should go back to the fence.” He says, and you can hear the regret in his voice.

“I found a brush.” You say, caressing the dog’s chest. “We should brush him.”

“We?” Joel entered, taking your excuse for him to stay. It made you smile, your chest filling with warmth. You didn’t want him to go, and he didn’t want it either.

“He’s a big dog. It’s better if it’s four arms. Do you have a tshirt on?” You ask, and he looks at his flannel. You could see the undershirt peeking. “It’s hard work, you will get overheated and you will lose whatever you’re wearing for the furstorm, and you will prefer if it is your undershirt.”

“I hope this isn’t some trap to get me half naked.” Joel smirked.

“Don’t tempt me.” You deadpan, which makes Joel chuckle, blushing, and look down. “Also, we need to make him enjoy this, because it’s something he will have done often and it’s better if he agrees to the whole proceedings. I also got good scissors to take care of his beautiful paws.”

“Do you cut hair?” He asked, grunting as he sat on the floor, his hands on the belly of the dog, gently scratching, soothing the animal into a relaxed state.

“Without any style.” You giggle, entering the bedroom, Joel’s chuckle following you. After some rummaging, you came back, in an old, rattled tshirt, holding the brushes. You sat by Joel’s side, crossing your legs and letting the dog sniff the brush. “I just know we have to trim his paws, don’t get excited for a nerdy haircut.”

“He needs a name.” Joel buried his hand on the fur and the dog offered his belly for petting. You started brushing slowly, carefully the dog’s neck and he closed his eyes, relaxed. “We should had thought of that.”

“You’ll hate all my ideas. Damn, I kinda hate my ideas.” you chuckled.

“Tell me.”

“Well…” You hesitated. “First one was Clifford.”

“He isn’t red, but damn he is big.” Joel chuckles.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t look like a Clifford to me. So… Cujo.” You cringe, chuckling. “I thought the irony of calling this sweetheart Cujo would be funny, but with those big eyes? I can’t bring myself to do it.”

“I see that.” Joel chuckled.

“I’ll call him Dog.” You say softly. “After another book.”

“Yeah?” Joel scrunched his face, focused, trying to find the reference.

“Yeah. Walt Longmire. I really liked those books.” You started picking the loose fur and piling it to the side. “Shame I didn’t get to read the last one before... you know.”

“What is it about?” He asked, carefully watching you combing Dog’s neck as he stretched.

“It’s a western neo noir. A detective series.” You nodded, holding Joel’s hand. He stared into your eyes, tense for a moment, as you push the brush on his hand. “He’s the sheriff of a small county in Wyoming. I like that not all the mysteries are murders.”

You held Joel's hand and guide it over Dog, in long brushes. Once you see he got the hang of it, you stand up.

Under Joel's curious and confused stare, you got into your trove of books and picked a small paperback, bringing it to Joel.

“I really think you would like him.” You placed the book over his flannel on the couch, then sat back beside Joel, the pile of fur just getting bigger beside you.

Dog grumbled, stretching.

“Yeah?” Joel asked softly.

“He is also an older, poetic soul, marred by war and loss.” You nod, your hand brushing over his as you pull loose fur. You continued, quietly. “Like us.”

Joel nodded, quietly, extending the brush to you. He held your hand as you pick it, then tugged you forward. He kissed your forehead, his nose pressed against your hair, both his hands around yours. You close your eyes, breathing deeply, willing to stay in that position for as long as he held you.

Dog grumbled and snorted, raising his head.

You felt Dog’s wet, soft tongue on your cheek, moistening the skin. You chuckled.

“Two handsome dangerous-looking gentlemen kissing me. Feels like I’m blessed. No danger shall reach me.”

Joel pulled back, smiling fondly. He caressed your cheek, then patted Dog, who laid down, offering his belly. With a chuckle, he went back to pulling the fur. ***

Joel appeared the next day with Ellie, Maria, Tommy and some others. While Maria checked on the dog, Joel led everybody else to the fence. It was finished that day.

You thanked everybody involved, promised things that didn’t matter. People agreed you looked better. You could see they looked relieved you were alive and looked well.

Something snapped inside your heart the moment you realized Joel would go back to his life and you suddenly had no excuses to keep him around you.

As people said their good byes, Joel stayed back.

“You didn’t get rid of me.” Joel bumped against your arm, jostling you playfully. You turned to him, wide eyed, facing his pleasant grin. “Now we built the headquarters, the meetings start.” You just stared, wide eyed, completely taken by his playful expression.

You had never seen Joel like this.

“I don’t understand.” You said, distracted by his eyes.

“Talked to Dog and we are gonna start the ‘Handsome Dangerous-looking Old Gentlemen Club’.” Joel placed one hand on his pocket, head tilting towards you. “We have daily meetings.”

You laugh, patting his chest.

“Wanna have the first meeting now? I bet Dog would love to fetch his ball in the yard.” You point at the door, Joel nods, following you. “Thank you.”

“I’m just glad you’re coming back to us, Sunshine.” He said softly, holding your shoulder and kissing the top of your head.

[janewaykove]

To those who have a multi-fandom blog, how do you tag?? Cos my brain starts thing, "Maybe I should tag better." I mean, I tag with people's names for my own posts (otherwise my stuff would get lost in the tag limit after a while). I tag "reblog" for those cos the originals are searchable already. But it's the stuff like "videos" that get me. All my video posts are tagged that. But what if someone (or myself) wants to find a certain video on my blog? So I thought, maybe if it's a Kate Mulgrew video, tag it "videos, videos km" but then what if it's a Star Trek video? What if it's got Seven in it? Do I tag those too?? Not that I can go through hundreds of posts and change all that, but it nags me. Especially when I wanna find a certain post. I already added tags for episodes, but I dunno.

[space-helen]

Beach

Words: 545

Pairing: Malcolm Reed x Reader

A/N: I hope this is ok <3 sorry it's been a while

Request: Reed x Reader (pref gn or m!reader) Uhhhhhh not sure for anything specific but something established relationship and just cute yknow?? Feed my unhealthy obsession it's me uou love me (I'll pay you in kitten photos??) - @trippolthreat

______________________

“Y/N!” the man called from behind you, stopping you in your tracks. Turning you faced your partner.

“What now?” you teased “Can’t we just leave to go to the beach already?”

This was your first break from Enterprise duties since being together. “I thought we should probably take a blanket.” you could tell the man was slightly delaying your trip.

“We’ve already packed one.” you walked over to the man and took his hand within your own. “Please, let's go before it gets too late and we hit all of the tourists.”

He sighed “I suppose.” 

“What’s wrong. Why don’t you want to go?” you placed your hand on his cheek and he leant into it.

“I’m just nervous. I’ve haven’t been out in public with someone for a long time.” he admitted.

“Malc. We’ve been pretty public on the Enterprise. Think of this as no different.”

He nodded and you moved your hand from his cheek and took his hand within your own and gaze it a squeeze. “We’re going to have a great day.” you assured “and when you’re not having fun at the beach anymore. We’ll leave.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Grabbing your things you made the short walk to the beach and quickly found a place to settle. The two of you lay in the sun next to each other for a bit before the man opened his arm to you so he could embrace you. Placing a kiss to the top of your head you found a comfortable position and continued to take in the sound of the waves, thankful that the beach was pretty empty at this time of day.

Some time later you moved from the man “First one to the sea gets to pick what we do tomorrow.” 

Before you knew it the two of you were racing to the water. You knew the man wanted to go for a hike and you wanted to visit some of the nearby museums. 

The two of you got into the sea at the same time. Splashing each other instantly as you reached it. Laughing you slipped and pulled the man down with you. “It looks like we’ll have to split the day into two parts tomorrow.”

The man stood and helped you up. “Looks like it.” he mulled it over “We’ll hike first thing. Avoid the sun closer to midday.”

You nodded in agreement “Sounds like a plan.” 

The two of you spent some time in the water before returning to the shore. Taking some time to dry off you sat and watched the sea together as the beach started to fill up.

The man got closer to you and put his arm around you. “I think we should go soon. I don’t want massive sunburn.”

“Lunch?” you offered.

“Ice cream?” 

Your face beamed “and how could I say no to that?” you gave the man a quick kiss on the cheek before gathering your belongings.

As you began to move away the man took your hand in his and held his head high as the two of you navigated your way off of the beach. As far as first holiday’s together, this one was going pretty well so far and you couldn’t wait for more in the future.

Tag List: (open)

All: @perasperaadastrawriting @asgards-princess-of-mischief @trippol-threat @captainsophiestark 

Star Trek: @heyitsaloy  @angel-with-wings-castiel @starfleet-imagines @captainsophiestark @perasperaadastrawriting @butchers-girl @evangeliamerryll

[auxiliarydetective]

The Aenar - Evie Edition

In building my newest Star Trek OC, Ezori, I took a deep dive into the Memory Alpha and Memory Beta articles on Aenar (and Andorians), and I came up with some headcanons and additions that I figured I could share with you guys.

Disclaimer: I am not a biologist, or an anthropologist, or a zoologist, or whatever else you might need to be to have professional opinions on this. I am a history student with a hyperfixation and going off of what feels right. If you don't like what I came up with, you can give me contructive criticism (please do, I like realism) or leave <3

With that being said, let's get into it! We'll be using my dear girl Ezori as a reference from here on out, so here she is out of uniform! This is going off of the ENT-era Aenar design mostly, since Ezori is an OC for ENT.

Almost everything on Memory Alpha/Beta still applies, so if I don't touch on something, you can just assume that whatever is said there is also true for my Aenar lovelies. Also, some of these ideas were inspired by the takes on Aenar by @nichestartrekkie0-0, so check out their Aenar tag! They've got some really cool ideas there!

Now, for our first topic:

I. Biology !

Very obviously, I gave them tails. I got the idea because their antennae are there for balance. Obviously, you'd need great balance as an ice-dwelling species, because ice is slippery. And what else gives you excellent balance? That's right: A tail.

The tail is very long (about the person's full height plus maybe 10%) and prehensile and grows out of the body about where a human's tailbone starts, so just above the butt. When navigating tight, crowded or familiar/safe spaces, an Aenar might keep it wrapped around their body for practicality reasons. Almost the whole tail is fairly sensitive because it's also one of the main sense organs of the Aenar. Besides touch, they can sense shifts in temperature and also whatever waves telepathy travels by - though these are mainly picked up by the antennae and ears. They also have a lot of strength in that tail for reasons which will become a bit clearer later. As a side note: Andorians are born with some semblance of a tail, but since it's non-functional, it's usually removed directly at birth or shortly after - it's essentially a vestigial organ for them.

Going from there, I thought about what other features might be practical for ice dwellers to have, and then it hit me: Spikes! You can use them to hold on to things if it gets slippery and, even more crucially, you can use them to help you climb. So, I added spikes to the tail - which is why their tails have to be this long and strong. You have to have reach with them and they have to be able to support a lot of weight. But I didn't want the Aenar, who are known pacifists, to carry around full-on spiked whips all the time since it didn't really fit their theme, so I decided that the spikes should be able to lie flat against the tail. My inspiration was HTTYD's Deadly Nadders. So, as you can see, they have five rows of spikes, the third row being the biggest, as well as one tip spike. Beneath those rows of spikes are the most sensitive sense organs of the Aenar. Think of the spikes as eyelids and the receptors beneath as the eyes being protected by the lids. So, whenever an Aenar splays their spikes, it's not a show of aggression. It's ye olde fight or flight response. Because while, yes, technically they could ram those spikes into whatever is threatening them, even more crucially, the spikes being splayed out allows the receptors beneath to receive more stimuli, which makes navigating your environment a lot easier for when you have to run away. These spikes are, obviously, not sensitive, since they're supposed to be rammed into ice, but the receptors are. There's a more robust, scalier area that sort of blends into the rest of the tail just beneath the lowest row of spikes.

Additionally, Aenar have little bumps across their backs along their spines. These used to be further spikes but turned into nothing but small bumps in the course of evolution. They're also usually fairly short because the energy that could be used to help them grow goes into warding off the cold.

As another biological adaption to the cold, Aenar (and Andorians) have a different chemical composition of their fat layers which makes them more insulating - this is why Andorians (and also Aenar) can sustain both extreme cold and extreme heat. Aenar also have a habit of using only non-tiring movements when in cold environments. This comes off as somewhat "graceful" to other species because these movements are very light and fluid. When in warmer environments, they need to snack a lot to keep their energy levels up and stay healthy. They might even be some form of mesotherm, but I'm hesitant to really apply this term here.

Their "vision" works based on all of their other senses to compensate for their blindness. They navigate their surroundings through sensing changes in temperature (ice walls are colder than their surroundings, for example), and "echoes" of both sound and telepathy waves, as well as touch if necessary. Additionally, they have a good grasp on where people or animals are based on telepathy alone, and being around seeing people helps them navigate usually harder-to-grasp environments through picking up what those people see as telepathic "background noise". All of this leads to Aenar being able to navigate familiar environments better than unfamiliar ones because they get accustomed to those stimuli, as well as them having more trouble perceiving inanimate objects than living and/or sentient ones.

In my head, Aenar skintones range from a pale icy blue to almost entirely snow-white with only some blue-ish contours/undertones. Eye colors range from blue to grey and are either pale or almost white - in which case they can look to be almost shimmering in a lot of different colors, kinda like opals or those "color-changing" blue eyes some humans have. The pupils arent much darker than the irises. Their hair is practically always white, only very rarely platinum blonde. I also gave them white eyelashes since it just made sense. I'd imagine body hair isn't that common, but you wouldn't be able to really see it either way since it would be white. Also, I changed the top part of the antennae to blue because... why would they be pink? The insides of their mouths are also blue, same for any other area where humans are pink. Also, Aenar freckles are golden. This has no logical reason other than that it looked like that to me with the makeup on the show. They blush very easily because their skin is so light and their blush is blue.

II. Culture !

This deals with a very broad understanding of culture, just so I don't have to create a bunch of mini categories.

First of all, I'm convinced that chubby = attractive to Aenar. Not because they think that that body type looks pretty, obviously, since they can't see, but because chubby = warm and soft (and also more resistant to freezing).

With that in mind, I was convinced that Aenar would like to accentuate the stomach area - which led me to the idea that Aenar have a rich culture of body jewelry (and they're probably a little disappointed and confused whenever they meet a species that doesn't). Belly button piercings are very common and almost everyone has them, similar to how a lot of humans have pierced earlobes. Speaking of pierced earlobes, there is an Aenar belief that ear piercings increase your hearing and telepathic abilities. Piercing your antennae is fairly rare since they're very vulnerable and piercing someone's tail is difficult. So, people might wear rings around them instead. A special sort of ring is when the main "shackle" part that holds the jewelry in place is semi-transparent (and usually a similar color to the person's skin) and (in the case of tail jewelry) has a hoop attached to make it look like the hoop is loosely dangling from around the tail, or (in the case of antennae) has chains attached to form a sort of net falling across the hair. The hoop method is less common for antennae since hoops are heavy and any chains on the antennae are usually attached at the base so as to not impact movability - unless for special occasions. The spikes can't be pierced because they're too hard and the forehead/eyebrow ridges are rarely pierced because they're also hard and a bit impractical to pierce, but it's not entirely impossible. If someone doesn't want percings, cuffs or body chains are common alternatives.

Piercings are a sign of prestige, especially if they're made of precious metals. More piercings = more prestige. This is also why being a piercer is a very well-respected job. Giving people piercings has some semblance of a spiritual/ritual tradition, so there's a lot of respect and honor involved. It can also be a very intimate thing. Aenar often get piercings for weddings, anniversaries, the birth of a child, and other festivities, and they also often get piercings together to strengthen their bond with each other.

Aenar are also eerily quiet. This is, on one hand, because they hear so well, and on the other because of their light movements and because they just don't have the need to talk much. Whenever they do talk, they're usually soft-spoken. Because Aenar are so quiet, treading lightly and whatnot, they seem to sometimes just appear next to people who can't feel them coming through telepathy.

They also just... don't lie. Why would they? They're convinced that everyone around them would know when they're lying because everyone around them has telepathy, so why try? This doesn't mean that they're extremely straightforward or blunt though, they're still very soft-spoken and polite. If they insult you, it will be through backhanded compliments and sly little comments that only you will hear.

Remember how I said that Aenar blush easily? Well, they also don't know what blushing is. I mean, they do realize that their face turns hot and whatnot, but they don't know that they turn blue, because they can't see it.

Going back to the topic of mobility, instead of ice picks, Aenar have clawed gloves to aid in climbing. Long distances are covered by ice sled tracks if necessary.

And finally, Aenar clothes are usually white or in light shades of other colors to blend in with the icy environment. Wearing dark or vibrant colors is seen as obnoxious and disrespectful to the community.

SO! I think that's it for now. If you sat through this, congrats! Have a cookie 🍪

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

Also tagging @enterprise-come-in

[you-remind-me-of-the-babe]

Shuffle your On Repeat playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people.

Sappho - Frankie Cosmos

Make Them Gold - Chvrches `

girls - girl in red

Silhouettes - Colony House

Wild Blue - John Mayer

Carry Me Away - John Mayer

Not Strong Enough - boygenius, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridget’s, Lucy Dacus

Decide to be happy - MisterWives

I Want to Be With You - Chloe moriondo

World Keeps Turning - The Strike

I shuffled my Most Played Songs of 2023 to make this list.

Several of these (Sappho, girls, I Want to Be With You) came from the Heartstoppper: Official Playlist because I listened to that shit A LOT. Some good stuff on there that just made me happy.

Chvrches. My love.

Silhouettes came from a playlist @fatalfangirl and I made for @whatevertheweather when she finished A Space In Between. I thought this song reminded me of Ebb telling Simon to try and live. IYKYK.

Wild Blue is about Blue from WS. Tell me I’m wrong.

Carry Me Away is one of a few songs that tell the story of a fic that lives purely in my brain and that plays itself out when I listen to them. It’s about a sad, lonely, teenage Baz at Watford who yearns to design clothes and makes elaborate paper designs of clothes that he puts on a paper doll of himself. This evolves to him making a paper doll boyfriend from his imagination that he dress up and magically makes move around with the paper doll of himself while he fantasizes about the life he wishes he could have if he managed to get away from his oppressive family. He somehow brings boyfriend doll to life a la Life Size the movie (Simon, ofc) and he helps to bring Baz out of his shell. This song depicts them sneaking out of school for a night on the town like Baz has always dreamed of doing. I told @thewholelemon about this last summer, and yes, this story stills plays like a movie when I listen to key songs. No, I have not put one word to paper for any of it.

Not Strong Enough is from my Depth of Reason playlist. Think Simon in chapters 1-2.

World Keeps Turning came from the Star Trek Redemption playlist. Idk who put it on there, as several people contributed to this playlist, but it works perfectly for Snowbaz ✨in space✨ @raenestee have we shared this playlist with you?? If we haven’t, that should be rectified. It’s banging. I didn’t create it, otherwise I’d share it here!

Thanks for the tags @raenestee @alexalexinii @valeffelees @aristocratic-otter @emeryhall @letraspal l love seeing the variety in music. I started listening to some of your picks today and it was fun discovering some new music 🥰

Throwing out some tags, apologies if you did it and I missed it @fatalfangirl @whatevertheweather @thewholelemon @cutestkilla @moodandmist @mooncello @onepintobean @shrekgogurt @artsyunderstudy @iamamythologicalcreature

[chaos-monkeyy]

❦ ➷ get to know your fellow fanfic writers better ༊ ✧.*

Tagged by @dewdropreader and @mirilyawrites , thank you!!

1. when did you post your first ever fanfic?

February 2019!

2. first character you wrote for:

Ben Jones my beloved (from Midsomer Murders)

3. main character(s) you’re currently writing for:

I don't know if I'm even allowed to answer this one 😂 Probably my own characters for original works, aside from that I really am just all over the map.. I'll say the ones I'm most likely to come back to regularly these days are Captain Pike, Mobius, and Dalinar Kholin (along with, y'know, people for them to get it on with).

4. character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan on writing about soon:

Pike's sex toys 😏

But uhhh actual people I haven't already written? 🤔 I am still toying with the idea of writing a little Jordi x Erin scene for Who Is Erin Carter? but it's anyone's best guess whether I'll actually get around to it 🙈

5. fandom(s) you’re currently writing for:

The main culprits lately have been Stormlight Archive, Star Trek Strange New Worlds, the Loki series, Stargate, and original fiction! Honorable mention to OFMD and Good Omens who've popped in there a couple times as well and may or may not continue to make occasional appearances 💖

6. platonic pairing(s) you currently write for:

.....let's say Ortegas & Pike since I did technically write them recently 😆 and also I love them.

7. romantic pairing(s) you currently write for:

All the things

Though let's be real, it's just straight up sexual pairings as opposed to romantic most of the time 🍾 But yeah, there's just.. so many to have fun with ✨

8. your top 3 tags on AO3 (if you post your works on AO3):

PWP, Omorashi... and in third place is a three way tie between Masturbation, Watersports, and Blowjobs 😂

9. your current platform where you post your works

Fanfic:

Original work:

With occasional cross-posting between the two 😊

10. snippet of the wip you’re currently working on:

..alright well here's hoping I do wind up actually finishing the big-dick-Mobius fic I started ages ago to go with @natendo-art 's hot fucking artwork 🙈

“May I?” Loki was asking— and he was trailing one hand downwards, fingers teasing along the line of Mobius’s belt. 

Mobius’s breath caught in an embarrassing little whimper, but he nodded anyway, a little distracted from wondering… Should he tell Loki he didn’t have any idea what he was doing, not really? Should he keep quiet and hope maybe Loki wouldn’t notice how woefully inexperienced he was beyond his own hands? Or— 

Mobius’s nervous train of thought was interrupted by Loki’s fingers finding his stiffened cock through his suit pants with a little squeeze— 

…And then Loki stopped, pulled back, and stared at Mobius with wide eyes and a slightly shocked look. 

“Wh… what is it?” Mobius asked, face flaming, instantly certain he’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry—” 

“Sorry?” Loki breathed, and to Mobius’s tentative relief, that slightly slack-jawed expression twisted up into a grin of delight instead. “My dear Mobius, you should definitely not be sorry about this.”

Tagging @trainofcommand , @d--dandelions , @cosmereplay , @might-be-a-lynx , @confuzing , @knight-of-skyloft , @cordeliaperry , @frankthesnek , @cuillere , and anyone else I missed who wants to do it - consider yourself tagged too! 💙

[noforkingclue]

Just One Year Chapter 21 (Bones x reader)

Just the epilogue to go now! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me on this fic :)

Just One Year tag list: @brilliantbutbatty, @440mxs-wife, @pile-of-bones-and-stars, @alindeluce, @stephdavies95, @bubblegum-star-trek, @waleyfish

Star Trek tag list: @strange-old-worlds, @stardustnerd

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsblue

“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Jim, “If you do this I can’t grantee you’ll be back here.”

You took a deep breath and nodded. You were sitting opposite the Captain, hands folded in your lap, and you tapped your foot nervously. You had thought long and hard about this decision but you knew it was for the best.

“Last chance to change your mind?”

“It sounds like you don’t want me to leave.” You said with a small smile

“No Captain wants to lose a member of their crew.”

“I’ve hardly been here that long,” you said, “and I’ve mostly just stayed in the med bay with Bones.”

Jim gave you a knowing look and smirked which you chose to ignore. You felt your cheeks get hot and you instinctively traced over where your engagement ring used to be. Another nervous tick that you were slowly loosing.

“How are… things?”

It was strange to see Jim looking so uncomfortable.

“It was for the best,” you said with a sad smile, “it wasn’t working out and I think we both knew that. It’s going to take some getting used to being on my own again.”

“Which is why you need the company of your friends.”

“And my family is back on earth.” You said

“Are you sure you want this?”

You took a deep breath and nodded.

“It’s for the best.”

*

“I’m leaving.”

Bones paused for a moment not quite sure he heard you correctly?

“Bones?” you said as you sat down opposite him, “are you ok?”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Why? I thought you liked it here.”

“I do,” you ran a hand over your face, “but I’ve decided to go back to the Academy.”

Bones put down his pen, slightly harsher than he intended. You winced at the noise and he slumped in his seat, the realisation of what you said finally hitting him.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, “I didn’t mean… I wasn’t expecting you to go.”

“To be honest neither was I.”

You bit your lip before continuing,

“But after what happened I realised that this really isn’t for me.”

“Working for me?”

“What? No!” you said suddenly, “working in medicine, I mean. It’s what my mother wanted me to do and now…”

You trailed off as you tried to find the right words.

“You’re you again,” said Bones, “a new start. Yeah, I felt like that after my divorce.”

“So you came here?” you said with a teasing smile

“I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“And do you regret it.”

“No.”

Bones’s gaze locked with yours and you smiled. He couldn’t help but return it. Moments like this, he realised, were so fleeting. He took them for granted at the time and now he wasn’t going to experience them again. You’d be leaving him.

“Look,” he said, “y/n. There’s something-“

“I’m not going to stay,” you said, “I’m sorry Bones but my mind is mind up.”

“Right,” the familiar feeling of heartbreak was returning, “right. Of course.”

“I know Bones,” you said, “I know because I-“ you cut yourself off before continuing quietly, “but it’s too soon. I tried to ignore but,” you took a deep breath, “it’s not the right time.”

“I understand,” Bones said, “what are you planning on studying.”

“I’m wanting to go back to engineering.”

“Right.”

An awkward silence settled over the two of you. Not being able to stand it any longer you stood up and walked towards the door. You looked over your shoulder and said,

“This needs to happen Leo. I’ll make sure to keep in touch.”

Keep in touch. Bones pursed his lips knowing what those three words really meant. You’d chat a couple of times and then work would get busy again or you’d be too preoccupied with your studies (as you should be!). Then the calls would get shorter and more awkward and then eventually they just wouldn’t happen.

He didn’t want that to happen.

He didn’t want you to go.

And maybe, from the look on your face, you didn’t want to go either. Still, you gave him one last smile before disappearing from his life, seemingly as easy as you came into it. He looked up when he heard someone come into his office again. To his surprise it was Christine.

“She does care.” She said

“Does she?”

“She does. And she will keep in contact.”

“You seem certain.”

“Now that Peter is out of her life I am. Maybe, sometime in the future she can find someone better.”

[handyowlet]

I’ve seen a lot of discourse lately about the newer parts of this (and other) fandoms. Some of it is just calling out people for bad behavior, but some of it seems downright hostile to people just for being new, and that seems unfair to me. Anyone who is being a dick to others should ABSOLUTELY be dragged for that, whether they’ve been around for 6 months or 6 years. Common decency should be the baseline.

But we can’t control when we became aware of a fandom, or when a new world was opened up to us. And trying to lock people out, devalue their opinions, or refuse to engage with them at all simply because you were here first is just mean.

For example, I was obsessed with My Little Pony back when I watched The Glass Princess (1986) on VHS multiple times a day. But it’s been a long time since then, and while Friendship is Magic is not the same, I don’t begrudge anyone loving it and I don’t think I would be a more important fan or that my opinions would be more valid just because cause I loved it before a newer fan did, especially because I am (probably much) older than a lot of those fans. I only got there first because I was born first and my mom bought that tape. This isn’t exactly the same as some of you because I’m not into MLP any more, but my daughter’s starting to love it, and I’m not going to keep her from watching the new stuff just because it isn’t the old stuff.

I was only 5 when GO was published, so of course there are people who read it and fell in love with it before I did, because I was a child and didn’t know it existed. I didn’t know about a lot of things- I didn’t know anything about Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, etc. until college because my parents didn’t let me. I only learned about Rocky Horror, Eddie Izzard, RENT, Queer as Folk, etc. because of the people I met in Creative Writing and drama club in high school, because they had been given access to those things and shared them with me. Drag Race was several years old before someone introduced me to that.

I am relatively new to this fandom, even though I did read the book many years before the show came out. I didn’t even know there was going to be a show until suddenly there was, and I loved S1, but circumstances in my life kept me from becoming obsessed. I also had no idea S2 was coming until right before it came out, and by then I was in a place where the brain rot was able to take hold. I thought Tumblr was like Tindr until around then as well, and I had no idea AO3 even existed. No one else I known IRL knows what these things are either, except for what I’ve told them. I don’t think my participation in this fandom should be any less valid just because I didn’t have access to it before now.

I have dived into this fandom headfirst and unabashedly. I still don’t understand all of how Tumblr and AO3 work, but now that I’m here, I participate as much as I can (sometimes I don’t respond to those tagging posts because I haven’t figured it out yet). I post on Tumblr when I think I have something to say, and try to boost others who say things I think might enrich someone else’s life too. I devour fanfic on a daily basis, leaving kudos and comments and recommending anything I’ve liked to anyone who will listen because I want to support the amazing artists in this community and spread the happiness they’ve brought to me. I try to engage with anyone who engages with me, and I’d like to think I’ve been respectful to you all (but I know I can be blunt too, so if ever I am a twat waffle, feel free to drag my ass for that).

I guess my bottom line is, while I’ve mostly felt very safe, loved, and accepted jn this fandom, the anti-newbie discourse is disheartening. I will absolutely join you in blasting anyone who chooses to be an asshole, but I’m never going to support the unnecessary gatekeeping. I don’t think Aziraphale, Crowley, Michael, David, Terry, or Neil would either.

Thank you to all of you who have shown love and acceptance to me. I’ll strive to return it and pay it forward to every chance I get.

[veryace-ficrecs]

Steve Harrington with Head Trauma Fic Recs

one of my favorite Stranger Things tropes, here is a list of Steve having head trauma and/or suffering from migraines.

as always this list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own  discretion! :)

Misjudged Your Limits by kikisifi13 - Rated T

"According to Robin, the first signs that Steve was getting a migraine were the little things, things that would seem normal if they were coming from anyone else. Steve had walked into Family Video that morning fifteen minutes late, wearing sunglasses and clutching a thermos of coffee. And sure, it was summer. But the knowing glance that Robin shot Eddie told him this wasn’t that."

After being beaten up one too many times, Steve Harrington has some head trauma to show for it. This also means migraines, which he tries his best to avoid displaying. 3 months into dating Eddie Munson, that particular situation becomes unavoidable, and when Steve is forced to be vulnerable, Eddie doesn't know what the hell he's supposed to do. Cue Robin leading Eddie through Caring For Steve's Migraines: A Comprehensive Guide.

TW: headaches, nausea, vomiting

Odds and Ends by kikisifi13 - Rated T

The plan is this: Steve is supposed to take the kids to see the newest Star Trek movie this Friday. The problem is this: Steve is due for a migraine.

basically the kids thought his migraines weren't a big deal, and now they DEFINITELY do hehe well, with a little help from Eddie and Robin. and Max. she knows what's up.

So Let It Out And Let It In by fangirlandtheories - Rated T

"Steve and his Dad get into a fight so he instinctively seeks out Eddie, only realizing too late that he's in the middle of DnD night with the kids, forcing him to be vulnerable in front of them." Anon request from Tumblr. *** “Hey, Steve, you’re kinda freaking us out dude.” Mike was slowly rising from his seat as he watched Steve’s eyes start to flutter. “Why’s your voice sound like that?”

medicinal by peaktotheocean - Rated T

 “I’ve got a friend who is having a ton of migraine issues," Robin blurted out. Eddie's head rose to look at her. That was a new one. "We heard weed helps. Any truth to it?” She asked hopefully.

Uncle Wayne always used to joke that Eddie was too curious for his own good. Eddie just never thought he'd agree with the assessment while selling weed to Robin Buckley of all people.

Sticky Notes by voidpacifist - Rated M

"It's the only music I can hear," Steve answers honestly. Something soft passes over Eddie's face at the admission. It's not pity. Steve saw pity in the librarians eyes as he and Dustin and Robin checked out all those books on ASL. Steve knows what self righteous sympathy does to a person's face, and it isn't doing that to Eddie's. No, Eddie's expression is maybe closest to understanding.

-

Steve's hearing was already dwindling on the precipice of "not good" after his run-in with Billy Hargrove in 1984. Less than a year and one Russian interrogation later, he loses the totality of his hearing in his left ear, and most of it in his right. To help himself readjust to a world with minimal sound, he starts seeking noise in a way he never expected to — by attending Corroded Coffin's performances at the Hideout.

Eddie wants to know what the hell is up with "King Steve" suddenly showing up to his shows. His questioning doesn't go to plan, and instead he lands himself an unexpected new friend.

-

pre!S3 —> post!S4

 yesterdays shatter, tomorrows don't matter by yellowmarshmallow - Rated M

There were only so many times someone could hit you in the head before you got lasting problems. Steve found that the number was about three.

But now Robin and the kids insist he should look after himself, and with Eddie making it his mission to make sure he does, Steve isn't sure he's in a place to argue.

Maybe being loved isn't so bad.

Stuck in My Head by schrijverr - Rated T

Between Jonathan, Billy and the Russians, Steve’s brain has taken enough damage for it to be permanent. He tries to deal with it, but with the Upside Down coming back, he can’t keep doing it alone. So, he confides in Eddie, the most unlikely person, but the only one who doesn’t yet count on him to be strong. The secret gives them a bond that helps them grow closer together as Eddie has Steve’s back and shows him he’s worth something.

[crushermyheart]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you to @fandomsbyladymelodrama for the tag! This should be fun...

How many works do you have on AO3? Presently, 24. (I joined AO3 3 years after joining fanfiction.net so there are a few more on there of questionable quality)

What's your total AO3 word count? 135,060

What fandoms do you write for? It varies greatly depending on what I'm watching, but mostly All Creatures Great and Small (2020) and Star Trek Voyager/Next Gen.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? My Dearest Lizzy (a Pride & Prejudice/Death Comes to Pemberley fanfic from AGES ago), Right Here (Mission Impossible, Ilsa/Ethan), Frozen Harmonies (hilariously, an overly dramatic Star Trek Next Gen fanfic, Picard/Crusher), For a Time Innumerable (Wheel of Time, series 1 aftermath, wrote this last year and kinda proud of it), Milk & Honey (All Creatures Great and Small 2020, in which Mr Farnon and Mrs Hall converse in the kitchen in the small hours of the morning, one of my personal faves)

Do you respond to comments? Yes! I love responding to comments and discussing my fics as well as commenting on other people's works.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? That is a good question... There are a great many. Potentially Some Shred of Goodness (The Crucible) which reflects on John and Elizabeth Proctor's relationship and if you know what happens in the play then the end of this fic, whilst sounding happy, is SUPER angsty.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ooooh, um, either Little Ordinary Things or Knights and Dragons, both fluffy Siegfried & Audrey, All Creatures Great & Small fics.

Do you get hate on fics? I had one comment on a fic last year that was weird/not nice/super critical/generally confusing and it kinda freaked me out so I deleted the fic - until some lovely person came and found me on Tumblr asking where the rest was and to not give up writing it.

Do you write smut? Nope.

Do you write crossovers? I don't think I've ever written one? I do have a potential crossover in mind (added to the very long list of unwritten fic ideas)

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No idea?

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not yet.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Good grief I can only have one? Most of my ships have not sailed, lol. RIP. Or have yet to set sail *cough* Siegfried/Audrey from All Creatures Great and Small, and then Picard/Crusher and Janeway/Chakotay from Star Trek. Also platonic ship: Moiraine & Lan, Wheel of Time. My original OTPs will forever be Aragorn/Arwen and Han/Leia.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? The Star Trek Next Gen fic I started writing 10 years ago which has 5 different versions and is over 40k words in note form *cries*

What are your writing strengths? I have not been asked this before... I like writing descriptively, describing locations but also emotions. If you've read my fics I'd like to know what you think my strengths are?

What are your writing weaknesses? Coming up with titles. I have a tendency to edit to death. And then ending up in the cycle of I kinda hate this/this is the best thing I've ever written and trying to find an end. Also, not planning everything out and getting lost in my chapters.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? If it's called for, go for it! I'm currently working on a Witcher fic and have done a stupid amount of research into the Elder speech and Skellige jargon.

First fandom you wrote for? Technically Scott & Bailey on fanfiction.net, When it Rains it Pours. It is terrible, the punctuation is everywhere, it's hilariously dramatic, and still my longest fic to date.

Favorite fic you've written? Oh no, I don't know! I really don't. Possibly Milk & Honey?

Tagging: @fuel-prices, @phoenixflames12, @shelbyxhughes, @beanabouttown, @itsmeagain00O , or tag yourself ;)

[bethanyactually]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

I was tagged by the lovely @pixiestickers--thanks!

3 Ships: Nancy/Ace from the CW's Nancy Drew, Bellamy/Clarke from The 100, Ben/Devi from Never Have I Ever

I'm listing ones I've most recently read fic about, but really the one that's living in my brain rent-free is Nancy/Ace, as anyone who's followed me for the past couple years is unsurprised to hear. Bellamy/Clarke is an old ship but I've recently been comfort-reading a lot of @ponyregrets's excellent fic. And Ben/Devi are blorbos-in-law written beautifully by @catty-words, whose fic I've recently beta-read.

First Ship Ever: uhhh what metric are we using? The first pair I ever remember thinking, 'they're both so nice, they should get married' about was Bob and Linda from Sesame Street, when I was about 4. When I was a bit older, I watched Remington Steele with my mom and thought Laura and Steele should definitely kiss, partly because my mom thought so. David and Maddie on Moonlighting were probably the first ship I could rightfully call my blorbos. The first ship that made me think, "I bet someone on the internet is talking about them," was Mulder/Scully. The first ship I read fic for was Chuck/Sarah from Chuck.

Last Song:

Last Movie: I think it was Elemental, which we watched in Oregon with my best friend and her family when we were visiting a couple weeks ago.

Currently Reading: Re-listening to the Murderbot series in anticipation of System Collapse being released next week, currently in the middle of Exit Strategy. Just re-read @ponyregrets's excellent The 100/The Good Place fusion series, Knocking on Heaven's Door.

Reading The Canterbury Tales with Elliora for school. And we just started reading A Midsummer Night's Dream out loud and it's been SO FUN because Elliora is loving it. We're reading it fairly slowly, with lots of stopping to discuss what things mean, and she finds it hilarious how similar the sentiments of these 16th-century characters are to humans today. She especially liked the lines, "You have her father’s love, Demetrius; Let me have Hermia’s. Do you marry him," when I explained that was basically Lysander saying, "If you like Hermia's dad so much, why don't you marry him." (My kid is enjoying Shakespeare!!!)

Currently Watching: Star Trek Lower Decks, perpetually rewatching Nancy Drew and Elementary, just started a Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency rewatch with @pressdbtwnpages that we're gonna get back to any day now, need to watch like the last four D20 series while I crochet this blanket I'm about to start working on for my best friend's sister.

Currently Consuming: Coffee

Currently Craving: a visit with friends in California I haven't seen in entirely too long

low-key, no-pressure tagging Corissa, Chash, and Kelsey since I mentioned them in this post, along with @demigodofhoolemere, @kiran-wears-science-blues, @somethinginthestatic, @mumbledletters, @the-errant-bard, @pepperf, and anyone else who'd like to do this!

[tea-earl-grey]

Get to Know Me!

tagged by @lostyesterday (thanks for the tag <333)

Last song: based on my phone – Everything's Here And Nothing's Lost by Snow Patrol but technically my last song is about two lines from Intros & Narrators by Bastille which i've been listening to on repeat for a few days while editing my Janeway fanvid.

Favorite color: purple!

Currently watching: just finished watching Only Murders in the Building which i enjoyed more than i thought i would since i'm not a huge fan of murder mysteries but it's fun! also the musical numbers in s3 slapped and i'm looking forward to the rest of s4.

Last movie: i genuinely have no idea, i haven't been watching a lot of movies lately so it might be Star Trek 2009??? which i rewatched over a month ago i think.

Sweet/spicy/savory: currently sweet because i'm currently eating some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies :)

Relationship status: single and happy.

Current obsessions: (glances around) i mean you're on this blog so i think you can put two and two together here. aside from Star Trek & Doctor Who, i've been getting back into cross stitching which hopefully won't absolutely fuck up my hands this time (i mean... they will, i'm just trying to be better about only doing it for an hour a day and wearing my elbow brace & compression gloves)

Last thing I googled: "best toasters" ok. so earlier today i fucked up my toaster beyond belief and i do need to tell the story now because it's still absolutely baffling to me. (under the cut because uh. it got long.)

tagging: any of my mutuals! sorry i'm so bad at tag games.

toaster story:

i was having a late lunch (toast with some leftovers) and sliced my bread a bit too thin (not a big deal, happens all the time, right? right?) i popped the toast up a little early because i didn't want it to get burnt but it got stuck. not a problem. i'll get some (non metal) tongs. whoops! it fell out of the little toast cage because of how thin it is and now it's more stuck. okay well i'll unplug the toaster and just turn it upside down. nope. it somehow falls to the bottom where the crumb tray is. ok well i'll just flip it back around, take out the crumb tray and it's fine, right? i flip it around and the toast is simply not visible anymore. "well that's weird," i say, "surely if i shake it some more, it'll come out, right?" it did not. i start to question whether the bread is even in there anymore because where could it go???? before spotting it with my flashlight and seeing that it somehow migrated to the wall between the food/toaster part of the toaster and the circuitry part of the toaster. i have no idea how it happened but it should be easy to free it if i just undo the screws that attach the bottom panel of the toaster and i can do a good deep clean of everything. i take five screws out, no problem and it's starting to pry off. i get to the last screw and... it's completely stripped. i have a pretty comprehensive toolbox with one of those multi-piece screwdrivers that has like 50 different heads. usually with stripped screws, you can find something that sorta works well enough to get it out but nope. nothing even close to fitting. at this point i decide to text my mom the situation because surely i was missing something obvious. my mom comes over laughing a bit at me because i'm known for overlooking easy solutions and surely it's not possible to fuck up making toast this much. it was. another hour passes and we definitely can't get out the screw without destroying the toaster and we haven't been able to shake the toast out. any sane person would probably just think that maybe the $30 toaster had served its purpose and is a lost cause. but a new strategy emerged! we managed to shake the bread to the unscrewed side of the toaster and could pry it open about three quarters of an inch. the bread somehow managed to get behind a circuit board so we just needed to be able to navigate it around and theoretically pull it out. after a few attempts, i finally managed to grab hold of the bread (that was somehow still entirely intact?) with my weirdly skinny fingers and i pulled it out victorious! however we did completely bend the plastic base that we were prying up and during a brief test to see if the toaster still worked it definitely started to smell like burning electronics so. rip. but we got the bread out just to prove we could!! and frankly i think i would have had too much of a grudge against that toaster to keep using it even if it did work.

so yeah. therefore googling "best toasters".